Trigran Investments Inc. Makes New $7.53 Million Investment in Barrett Business Services, Inc. $BBSI

Trigran Investments Inc. bought a new stake in Barrett Business Services, Inc. (NASDAQ:BBSI) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 180,637 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $7,531,000. Barrett Business Services makes up about 1.3% of Trigran Investments Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of BBSI. Martingale Asset Management L P lifted its position in Barrett Business Services by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Martingale Asset Management L P now owns 38,213 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,572,000 after acquiring an additional 242 shares in the last quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. raised its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 2.5% during the second quarter. CWC Advisors LLC. now owns 11,021 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $459,000 after purchasing an additional 268 shares during the period. Lakewood Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Barrett Business Services by 2.9% during the second quarter. Lakewood Asset Management LLC now owns 10,912 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $455,000 after purchasing an additional 312 shares in the last quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Barrett Business Services by 1.5% in the second quarter. SummerHaven Investment Management LLC now owns 24,182 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $1,008,000 after purchasing an additional 355 shares during the period. Finally, PNC Financial Services Group Inc. grew its holdings in Barrett Business Services by 26.4% during the 1st quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,309 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $95,000 after purchasing an additional 482 shares in the last quarter. 86.76% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Barrett Business Services Trading Down 1.6%

NASDAQ BBSI opened at $34.91 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $894.39 million, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.27 and a quick ratio of 1.27. Barrett Business Services, Inc. has a 12 month low of $33.01 and a 12 month high of $49.65. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $39.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $42.70.

Barrett Business Services (NASDAQ:BBSI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The business services provider reported $0.79 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.81 by ($0.02). Barrett Business Services had a return on equity of 24.36% and a net margin of 4.48%.The company had revenue of $318.95 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $319.27 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Barrett Business Services’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Barrett Business Services, Inc. will post 2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Barrett Business Services Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, December 5th. Shareholders of record on Friday, November 21st will be paid a dividend of $0.08 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, November 21st. This represents a $0.32 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.9%. Barrett Business Services’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.38%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Joseph Stephen Clabby purchased 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $34.83 per share, for a total transaction of $34,830.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 15,391 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $536,068.53. The trade was a 6.95% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Anthony Meeker sold 3,064 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $46.78, for a total value of $143,333.92. Following the sale, the director directly owned 54,601 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,554,234.78. This represents a 5.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 4.10% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on BBSI shares. Barrington Research set a $46.00 price target on shares of Barrett Business Services and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Barrett Business Services in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Barrett Business Services from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Barrett Business Services currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.00.

Barrett Business Services Company Profile

Barrett Business Services, Inc provides business management solutions for small and mid-sized companies in the United States. The company develops a management platform that integrates a knowledge-based approach from the management consulting industry with tools from the human resource outsourcing industry.